The NIH-EPA Chemical Information System, comprising 24 different components such as spectral data and bibliographic data bases, is under systematic development in a project that involves the collaborative efforts of 44 different groups in the U.S., Europe, Japan and the USSR. Components of this system include a mass spectral search system, a carbon-13 nmr search system, nmr and mass spectral searchable data bases of X-ray diffraction data for organic and inorganic crystals and powders and a series of searchable files of toxicological data. A number of files concerning chemical pollution are in the system, as well as searchable files containing chemical substances that are of concern to various Agencies of the U.S. Government. The entire system is being made available to the International Scientific Community via networked computers in the private sector. All who use the system do so on a fee-for-service basis.